Google this week unveiled Android Wear 2.0 at Google I/O 2016. The first major update to its wearable operating system since it was released back in September 2014 will give wearables a number of new features and capabilities when it launches later this fall. Missing from the announcement was any hint that Android Pay would be coming to Android Wear to enable payments right from your smartwatch. It turns out that Google is looking at this feature but exactly when it could launch remains unclear.
Speaking to Wareable, Android Wear lead product manager Jeff Chang said only, “It’s not something we’re ready to announce yet but we definitely believe in that use case. If you think about it, when you go on a run, you don’t want to have to strap your phone on your arm. You want to be able to know where you are or track your stats. With this watch (the LG Urbane Watch 2 with LTE), you do a phone call, messaging, or you want to be able to listen to music – and you want to be able to pay for something.”
This is about as close as we are going to get to Google admitting that Google Pay is coming to Android Wear until they’re ready to make an official announcement.
A number of manufacturers, including Apple with the Apple Watch and Samsung with the Gear S2, already offer mobile payment support on their wearables and smarter watches. A growing number have also signaled their intent to do so. For example, Fitbit just acquired Coin to bring the feature to its devices. On the watch side, the Swatch Bellamy offers similar functionality and other watch makers, such as Bulgari and Hublot, are also planning watches capable of mobile payments.
Perhaps Android Pay will be added to Android Wear 2.0 before it launches this fall. If not, it’s unlikely that it will be much longer before Google announces that it will be added in a future release.
Source : Wareable